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Friday, April 16, 2010

On Tuesday, April 13th, 2010, the Washington Capitals released their official app (application) designed for Apple Inc’s iPhone & iPod Touch, as well as being compatible with the new Apple iPad. The press release:

ARLINGTON, Va. – The Washington Capitals have released their official iPhone application, which was built in conjunction with Advanced Mobile Solutions Worldwide and currently is available at the Apple iTunes App Store: Washington Capitals iPhone App. This is the first of a suite of smartphone applications that will be released by the Capitals with Android and Blackberry platforms available in the near future. The iPhone application includes a host of interactive features that enables Caps fans to follow the team while on-the-go:

Game Day – comprehensive coverage throughout the day of a game: a preview of the opponent, live stats as the game unfolds and the postgame notebook as well as the schedule, results and stats from the prior game

Team – up-to-date stats for everyone on the Capitals' roster, images of the players and current division and conference standings

Media – numerous photo galleries and options to listen to episodes of Capitals Report and PreCap

News – breaking news and the latest articles and information about the team

Fan Zone – interact with the Caps on the team’s Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Flickr pages. Sign up for Ice Chips, the official, weekly e-newsletter of the Washington Capitals

Fans who download the Washington Capitals iPhone application will get the latest updates regarding upcoming Capitals mobile opportunities as they are developed.

Anyway, I of course downloaded the free app as soon as I read this…. so, without further ado, here’s my review…..

Washington Capitals Official iPhone App Review by Musings of a Caps Fan

More screenshots at the Musings of a Caps Fan flickr account [PHOTO GALLERY]

The Loading Screen

The application loads fairly quickly. It features a nice background, with “ROCK THE RED” and the logo featured prominently. The app perfectly captures the excitement that is present in the Verizon Center during Caps game, as well as the feel of the Washington Capitals website. Excellent job!

The Home Screen

The home screen is nicely laid out with big buttons, perfect for everybody and a great size for the iPhone’s screen. The home screen isn’t very cluttered, and all the buttons have clear labels as well as easy to understand pictures. The Capitals logo and “ROCK THE RED” are still there…. very nice, very nice. I really like how they’ve done the visual experience on this app.

Game Day

This is a nice little category which has the latest Caps game, recaps from previous game, and a schedule. My only issues are that the font for recaps isn’t quite the right size, and doesn’t go well with the rest of the slick app. Also, even though it says “photo gallery” and “video: such & such”, it doesn’t have working links! I would really enjoy if they made all the videos that you can watch on Caps365, the video player on the Caps’ website, compatible with iPhone so that you could watch them on the go. ESPN has recently done this, and they all work very well with their app. Fix the font and make the videos work, and I’ll be very pleased.

Team

The team section of the app has a roster section, with quite stats about each player. For example, the card for Mike Green (see right) has the following stats; number, shooting side, height, weight, birth date, drafting info, as well as stats for the season, such as goals, points, assists, +/-, etc. etc. All in all, a very nice section.

Also in the same section is a part for the NHL standings, by conference and division. Very nice, and well laid out.

Tickets

This section is a one-stop shop for buying Caps tickets, with everything you could possibly want while buying tickets, such as prices, a schedule, and even a seating chart. This is a great addition and makes the app that much better.

Issues I Still Have

In every screen, there is an arrow as well as a home button in the top. The arrow does not take you back home, but instead takes you back to the last page you were on in that section. The home button takes you to the main menu. Confusing, and frustrated me for a little until I figured it out.

While this app has the Capitals official news feed, there are many wonderful Capitals blogs (such as this one!) that have more in depth coverage and more analysis. It would be great if the next version of this app had a section for Washington Capitals Fans blogs…. it would really enhance the experience.

I want video! And the fonts for recaps need a bit of work.

Final Verdict

This is a fantastic app for all those Caps fans out there. This really provides all the news, stats, and other info that most people would ever need about the Caps, and will help all the people with a casual interest in the Capitals learn more about this wonderful team! Few NHL teams, to my knowledge, have apps…. in fact, I’m not sure if any others do. This really gives the Caps a forward-looking attitude, and this certainly helps fans embrace the team. I recommend this to everyone! Also, it’s absolutely free!!!! If you have an iPod Touch or iPhone, download this app and give it a try! [iTunes Link]